Pianist Lee Hyoju's First Solo Recital in 4 Years Featuring Only French Music

On the 10th at Seoul Arts Center IBK Chamber Hall... Performances of Saint-Sa?ns, Debussy, and Ravel

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Pianist Lee Hyo-joo, who won second place at the 2010 Geneva International Competition, will hold a solo recital after four years on the 10th at the IBK Chamber Hall in the Seoul Arts Center.

The recital is titled "Memories of Paris." Lee Hyo-joo will perform piano masterpieces from early 1900s Belle ?poque French music. The program includes Camille Saint-Sa?ns' "Waltz-form ?tude for Piano," Claude Debussy's "Images, Book 1" and "L'Isle Joyeuse," widely known as the essence of Impressionist music, Maurice Ravel's masterpiece "Le Tombeau de Couperin," composed amid the rapidly changing history during World War I, and the beloved piece "La Valse," known for its rhythmic dance and brilliant development.

Paris holds a special meaning for Lee Hyo-joo. After winning the Moscow Youth Chopin Competition in 2000, she went to study in Paris in 2001. At the Paris Conservatory, she met cellist Lee Jeong-ran and violinist Park Ji-yoon, both alumni of Yewon School, and formed the ensemble "Trio Jade" in 2006. Trio Jade has been actively performing, including completing six local tours with the Pays de la Loire National Orchestra in France performing Beethoven's Triple Concerto in 2018, and this year marks their 15th anniversary. Lee Jeong-ran, two years senior at Yewon School, served as associate principal of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, and Park Ji-yoon, a classmate, was appointed permanent concertmaster of Radio France Philharmonic in 2018.

Lee Hyo-joo has performed salon concerts at Debussy's birthplace and experienced French music by visiting places such as the Salle Gaveau theater where Ravel premiered "Le Tombeau de Couperin" after returning from the war, and the old Paris Conservatory building in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, frequented by many great French musicians. She plans to convey these impressions to the audience in this recital.

Lee Hyo-joo said, "This program is filled with affection for countless memories made over nearly ten years in Paris, France, so I really wanted to present it on stage," adding, "I will guide the audience, who may have fixed ideas that 'French music is vague and difficult,' to experience a charm different from German and Italian music."

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